70th Anniversary Of The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact In Prague

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact the Polish Institute in Prague with the participation of the Estonian and Latvian embassies in the Czech Republic will held on the first day of September 2009 in Prague the rock concert named When You Say Freedom, public debates and an multi-media exhibition.

The Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact was signed in August 1939 between Nazi Germany ruled by Adolf Hitler and Soviet Union then governed by Joseph Stalin. The pact included a secret attachment clause according which those two totalitarian states actually divided Eastern Europe between each other.

Maciej Ruczaj, a representative of the Polish Institute in Prague, reported ČTK yesterday: "The turn of August and September this year will see two important anniversaries. It will be exactly 70 years since the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that brought the beginning of the most tragic era of the history and half a century of oppression under the yoke of two totalitarian regimes for Central European countries."

The When You Say Freedom rock concert is to take place on the day when Poland was attacked by Nazi Germany 70 years ago. It will gather independent rock bands from Poland, Latvia and Estonia. Ans.Andur band from Estonia, Double Faced Eels alternative rock group from Latvia and Polish guitarist and composer, leader of the Voo Voo band Wojciech Waglewski will perform during the event.

On September 1, 2009 the exhibition "I przyszedl ten dzien" (And the Day Came) will be launched by the Polish Institute. This event will be dedicated to all those people who were exiled by force from the Eastern part of Poland by Soviet Union. During the days when this exhibition is open visitors will be demonstrated several documentaries featuring grim events of those cruel years.

Photo: Molotov and Ribbentrop signing non-aggression pact, photo from National Archives & Records Administration (wikimedia.org)